Reality TV star: ‘I’m not the drama queen’

Lisa Nicole Cloud of the Bravo reality TV show “Married to Medicine” started her own clothing line and a nonprofit to help women pursue their passions.
Photo by Sandra Sellars

Reality TV is a breeding ground for drama and squabbles. But one star, Lisa Nicole Cloud of Bravo’s “Married to Medicine,” is focused on being positive.

“I wanted to see a different portrayal of African-American women on TV,” said Ms. Cloud, an entrepreneur and cast member on the Atlanta-based reality show about the lives of women doctors and women married to doctors.

Ms. Cloud talked with the Free Press during her recent trip to Richmond, where she was a keynote speaker at a business conference.

Women in reality TV are often portrayed as brand-obsessed drama queens. But Ms. Cloud said she focuses on being a role model for other women on the show, which is not easy in an industry where rating spikes correspond to melodrama.

On “Married to Medicine’s” third season, which will air this summer, Ms. Cloud said one of her cast members pulled her into the fray by spreading lies about her family.

Ms. Cloud, who lives in a suburb of Atlanta with her husband Dr. Darren Naugles, an emergency medicine physician, and their two children, D.J., 10, and Amira, 7, said her family is off limits to the drama of the show.

“You have to have a strong relationship when you do reality TV,” Ms. Cloud said about her marriage. Others “will find your weakness and exploit it.”

When the new season airs in June, she said audiences will find out about how cast member Quad Webb-Lunceford “got some reaction from me.”

Internet chatter indicates that the two get into an argument during which Ms. Cloud throws a glass of water in Ms. Webb-Lunceford’s face. The altercation also allegedly results in a hospital visit and the filing of a police report.

“When you are that good, drama-free person, of course they’re going to see you as a pushover and they’re going to come for you,” Ms. Cloud said.

Ms. Cloud, who turned down an opportunity to be a part of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” said she agreed to do this show to promote values of hard work, family and God.

She said many people don’t have the money to start a traditional business and the direct sales industry doesn’t require a big startup cost. She wants to dispel the image of the direct sales business as a pyramid scheme by teaching people to discern the good companies from the bad ones.

The show follows her as she runs her businesses, which include her own clothing line and a nonprofit organization, Women’s Empowerment Network, that gives women tools and the professional network to pursue their passions.

Ms. Cloud also is working to develop her own shows about her family and the direct sales business.